4.  The applicants were born in 1951 and 1954 and live in the towns of Novi Sanzghary and Zolotnosha, Ukraine.
5.  According to the first applicant, between 8 and 8:30 a.m. on 28 October 2001, as he was leaving his house, he came face to face with Police Major I. and two strangers. They threatened him and then hit him and pushed him inside the house. The attackers then set the house on fire and left, barring the door.
6.  The house exploded and the first applicant was projected outside, while other members of his family, who were asleep, remained inside.
7.  Later the same day the first applicant and four other members of the applicants’ family, 21-year-old Z.F. (the second applicant’s daughter), 6-year-old S.F. (the applicants’ granddaughter), 3-year-old M.F. (the applicants’ grandson) and 15-year-old T.L., were admitted to hospital with burns and gas intoxication. Z.F., S.F. and M. F. died in hospital.
8.  Two other members of the applicants’ family were found dead in the house: 25-year-old V.F. (the first applicant’s son) and 6-year-old Y.F. (the applicants’ grandson).
9.  The first applicant informed the police that the fire had been caused by an arson attack carried out by Major I. from the Kryukov police department. He believed that it was a punishment attack for failure to pay a monthly bribe of 200 Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH) claimed by the police. Major I. had allegedly visited the first applicant’s house before and allegedly extorted money from the applicants’ relative, Z.F., in payment for not instituting criminal proceedings against her for drug trafficking. In that connection Major I. had allegedly already been bribed with UAH 800. The first applicant also maintained that Major I. had previously threatened to set his house on fire.
10.  According to an article in the local newspaper, “police officers burned alive a Gypsy family since they had refused to pay a usual share from selling drugs”. A local prosecutor said that in one of the burned houses they used to sell drugs. He also said that the version of “police drug lords’ complicity” in the crime was being checked. A neighbour testified that the applicants’ family was a poor one and that Z.F. had been selling heroin (ширку) for a couple of months but then she had been beaten by police officers “for she was inexperienced”. The first applicant said that Major I. had threatened to burn them alive since they had failed to pay UAH 200 in monthly bribes.
The newspaper article also contained the following passages:
 
“Several dozens Gypsies, who came to the victims’ funeral, told the journalists: “Yes, there exists fascism in respect of Gypsies in Ukraine, their ethnic minority rights are being breached”
[...]
“Very often it is mentioned in the police reports that drugs are sold by “persons of Gypsy ethnicity”, while Ukrainians also sell drugs”
11.  On 28 October 2001 the Kremenchug District Prosecutor instituted criminal proceedings for the murder of V.F. and Y.F. On 6 November 2001 the Poltava Regional Prosecutor’s Office instituted criminal proceedings for the arson attack on the first applicant’s house. These two cases were later joined.
12.  The Poltava Regional Police Department (Управління Міністерства внутрішніх справ України в Полтавській області) conducted an internal inquiry into the allegations of Major I.’s involvement in the arson attack on the first applicant’s house. During the inquiry, the first applicant again stated that Major I. had extorted 200 UAH from the first applicant’s daughter-in-law for not prosecuting her for selling drugs. The inquiry further established that at 9 a.m. on 28 October 2001 Major I. left home with his wife. On their way they met their neighbours. However, the written explanations given by Major I. and his wife stated that they had left the house at 8.20 a.m. Later Major I. was seen with his wife at the markets in town, where they talked to furniture and clothes retailers and to a couple named Su. At 1 p.m. Major I. returned home. It was also found that on 4 October 2001 Major I. had arrested Z.F., who was later released, and on 20 October 2001 he had searched the first applicant’s house.
13.  In particular, in his explanations given on an unidentified date, Major I. stated that “it was likely that I knew by sight the inhabitants of the house on Shkolnaya street, but I did not know their names. I’ve seen there all Gypsies and know that they sell drugs there. But it is difficult to catch Gypsies...”
14.  It was concluded that these circumstances, as well as “the first applicant’s head injuries sustained as a result of the explosions” could have been the reason why the first applicant slandered Major I. On 10 December 2001 the conclusion reached in the inquiry, namely that Major I. had not been involved in the arson attack on the first applicant’s house, was sent to the Poltava Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
15.  On 14 November 2001 a certain N., who was suspected of burning down the first applicant’s house, was charged with murder and destruction of property.
16.  On various dates further criminal proceedings were instituted against at least six individuals for three counts of arson and murder, which took place on 28 October 2001. In April 2002 the cases against these individuals were separated from the case against N., since the former were all missing.
17.  In May 2002 the applicants’ representative requested the prosecutor to question (i) the doctors who had been providing first aid to the victims, (ii) the applicants’ neighbour, who had allegedly been told by police not to testify, and (iii) Major I.’s former wife, who had allegedly seen his car.
18.  On 1 June 2002 the applicants’ lawyer requested the investigator to establish criminal responsibility on the part of Major I. for the arson attack.
19.  On the same day a face-to-face cross-examination was held between the first applicant and Major I. The applicant gave his account of events and described the clothes Major I. had been wearing on the morning of the arson attack. Major I. denied all the accusations.
20.  The same day the prosecutor rejected the applicants’ request for Major I. to be prosecuted for the arson attack, on the basis of Major I.’s contentions, the conclusions of the internal inquiry and the existence of other accused who did not confirm the involvement of Major I. in the attack. In particular, D. testified that in the morning of 28 October 2001 he had driven three people to the first applicant’s house, and that Major I. had not been among them.
21.  In July 2002 the criminal case against N. was submitted to the court.
22.  On 11 December 2002 the Poltava Regional Court of Appeal, acting as a court of first instance, considered the criminal case against N. and G., and remitted it for further investigation. In particular, the court noted that a certain X. “had planned to destroy and damage by way of arson three houses in which lived persons of Gypsy ethnicity”. N. and G. were accused of acting on the orders of X. together with seven other people. The court indicated numerous shortcomings in the investigation. In particular, G.’s complaints that he had been ill-treated by police with the aim of extracting a confession from him had to be checked; it was not established who had taken part in the arson attack and what each person’s role was; others allegedly involved in arson attacks were wanted, but nothing had been done to search for them. The court noted in particular that the investigation should check Major I.’s alibi and establish why and on what grounds, when arresting Z.F. and searching the first applicant’s house, he had been working outside his area of territorial jurisdiction. The applicants also testified in a court hearing that Major I. had threatened them with reprisal. The court, however, did not specify in its decision what the reason for the alleged reprisal was. The court noted that Major I. himself admitted that he had visited the first applicant’s house several times in 2001. The first applicant was also not informed about the decision not to institute criminal proceedings against Major I. The documents from the internal investigation were not joined to the criminal case file and the applicants’ representative’s request of May 2002 was not answered. The court noted that Major I.’s former wife, the ambulance doctors, the firemen and the first applicant’s neighbours should be questioned. Finally, the court indicated a large number of various investigative actions which were to be performed by investigation authorities.
23.  According to the applicants, in a court hearing N. said: “We had to put those [...] Gypsies in their place. The police should do this!”
24.  On 6 March 2003 the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the decision of 11 December 2002. It has, however, decided that it was not necessary to carry out the reconstruction of events as indicated by the Court of Appeal.
25.  On 16 June 2003 the Kremenchug Prosecutor’s Office refused to institute criminal proceedings against Major I. It was held, without any particular specifications, that further checks had been performed and it had been established that Major I. had not been involved in the arson attack.
26.  On 10 July 2004 the criminal proceedings were stayed, because other perpetrators could not be found.
27.  On 23 September 2004 the criminal proceedings in respect of N. were resumed.
28.  On 21 January 2005 the Kremenchug Court found N. guilty of wilful destruction of property which caused significant pecuniary damage and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment, suspended, with two years’ probation. The court found that N., No. and S. had arrived at the first applicant’s house in order to “destroy the houses of persons of Gypsy ethnicity who sell drugs”. N. chased people out of the house while No. and S. did not wait until everybody was out before setting the house on fire. N. testified in a court hearing that his aim had been to destroy the house of drug traffickers. His task was to evict the people from the house, but his accomplices did not wait for him, and had set the house on fire with people inside, including him. The court found that N. had been “in some way” dependent on No. and S., and had acted as their accomplice. His story was confirmed by various evidence, in particular, he had received burns and spent some time in hospital afterwards. The court awarded the first applicant UAH 13,820 for destruction of property and entirely rejected the applicants’ civil claim for damages caused by the death of their relatives and by the injuries sustained by the first applicant, on the ground that these had not been caused as a result of the actions or intentions of N.
29.  The prosecutor and the applicants appealed, claiming that N.’s sentence was too lenient. In their appeal the applicants noted that the first-instance court had not assessed the evidence of the first applicant and one other survivor of the arson attack, who had witnessed the involvement of Police Major I. in the attack. They also noted that according to N. and G.’s testimonies the arsons had been planned and organised well ahead since the inflammable mixture had been bought and several cars had been sent to set on fire houses of persons of Romani ethnicity.
30.  On 20 May 2005 the Poltava Regional Court of Appeal quashed the judgment of 21 January 2005 due to procedural defects of the trial in the first-instance court.
31.  On 22 June 2005 the criminal proceedings against N. were terminated because of his death.
32.  On 4 December 2008 the decision of 10 July 2004 to stay the proceedings was quashed by a prosecutor. No further information about the proceedings in the case is available.
II.  RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTATION
Second report on Ukraine by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) adopted on 14 December 2001
33.  The relevant extracts from the report read as follows:
“56. As is the case in some European countries, the Roma/Gypsy population of Ukraine is faced with situations of severe socio-economic disadvantage, but also with manifestations of prejudice, discrimination and violence on the part of the majority population and sometimes on the part of the authorities, particularly law enforcement officials. ECRI expresses concern at this situation and considers that policies are urgently needed to address the position of the Roma/Gypsy communities in Ukraine in order to ensure that the members of these communities enjoy in practice the same rights as the rest of the population of Ukraine. ECRI believes that the first necessary step towards developing an appropriate response to the problems faced by the Roma/Gypsy population of Ukraine is the recognition on the part of the authorities that such problems exist and that they need to be addressed [...]. 58. Another priority area for action identified by ECRI is the behaviour of the law enforcement officials vis-à-vis members of the Roma/Gypsy communities. In this respect, ECRI notes with concern frequent reports of excessive use of force, ill-treatment, verbal abuse and destruction of property by law enforcement personnel. Discriminatory practices are also reported to be widespread and include arbitrary checks, unwarranted searches, confiscation of documents and, as noted in ECRI’s first report, discriminatory enforcement of crime prevention policies targeting persons with criminal records. ECRI urges that action be taken to address manifestations of unlawful behaviour on the part of law enforcement officials generally, including through a more effective institutional response to such manifestations and through training and awareness raising measures. In addition, noting reports that the response of the police to crimes committed by the general population against Roma/Gypsies is often inadequate, ECRI recommends that the Ukrainian authorities take measures to ensure that the police react promptly and effectively to all crimes, including those committed against Roma/Gypsies and, in line with its recommendations formulated above, to ensure that the racist element of such offences is duly taken into account.”